Sweet Potato Blintz with Pecans, Kumquats & Blueberry Compote

Blintz' are thin pancakes similar to crepes with the exception that blintz batter can have yeast in the batter. They can be sweet or savory and filled with just about anything you can imagine. For the sake of not standing over the stove making one blintz at a time, I made a baked blintz which was incredibly simple to make and resulted in the same soft, fluffy layers you would get if you made them one by one.

Two layers of sweet potato blintz pancakes baked around pecan cream cheese filling with blueberry compote and kumquats.

Sweet Potato Blintz
serves 4
1 small sweet potato
1/2 cup plus 2 tbl almond milk
1/4 cup water
2 tbl canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz firm, silken tofu
1/2 cup plus 2 tbl all-purpose flour
1 tbl organic brown sugar
1 tbl baking powder

Preheat the oven to 425. Prick the sweet potato with a fork and roast directly on the oven rack for 45 minutes or until fork tender. Peel and place cooked potato in a food processor.
Reduce the heat to 350. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.
Add the milk, water, oil, vanilla and tofu. Blend until smooth. Add the flour, brown sugar and baking powder.  Blend until smooth.
Pour half of the batter into the dish and bake for 10 minutes until just set.
Spread all of the pecan cream filling on top then top with the remaining blintz batter. Bake for 30 minutes until firm.
Let cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Pecan Cream Cheese Filling
1 cup toasted pecans
6oz vegan cream cheese
3 oz firm, silken tofu
1/4 cup plus 2 tbl organic light brown sugar
1 tbl orange zest
1 tbl orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Blend the pecans in a food processor for 3-4 minutes until they are finely ground. Add the cream cheese, tofu, brown sugar, zest, juice, vanilla and salt. Blend until smooth.

Blueberry Compote
2/3 cup organic cane sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tbl cornstarch
10 oz frozen blueberries, thawed
4 kumquats, thinly sliced

Combine the sugar, water, orange juice and cornstarch. Whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes until thick. Add the blueberries and simmer 5 minutes more. Garnish the blintz with sauce and kumquat slices.